Early September in Imbanuma

 It could be a bit too late, we thought, but nevertheless, we headed for Imbanuma to see if Barn swallows (Tsubameツバメ) still use the reedbeds for their roost. 

(we went to see them in 2019 and wrote about it here.)

Before getting dark, we enjoyed the calm September afternoon.

Exclusive Cormorant club😂 (Kawauカワウ)

Cormorant & Egret joint club 

a lone Coot (Oobanオオバン) - Is it a very early one or has it stayed throughout the summer here?

 

Three terns were flying over the edge of the other side of the lake and perched on the poles.

Were they Whiskered terns (Kuroharaajisashiクロハラアジサシ)? too far to see the details.

One Osprey (Misagoミサゴ) was perching on a pole when we got there and was still there when we left the place a few hours later.

 

Young Black-crowned night herons (Goisagiゴイサギ) were playing hide & seek😁

 

They really are hard to spot!

There weren't many ducks apart from resident Spot-billed ducks (Karugamoカルガモ).  

A Pintail (Onagagamoオナガガモ) was foraging among them. 

Is this individual in eclipse plumage? or a juvenile? or a female? 

Now the sun was just over the horizon. Show time!

Tundra Bean Goose

There have been a few wintering Tundra bean geese (Hishikuiヒシクイ) by Lake Imbanuma for the last few winters and this winter three have been seen on the same paddy fields as before.

resting in the middle of the fields

 They started foraging in the fields. Still far...

and flew towards the even farther end of the fields...

 

 There happened to be a Black-eared kite (Tobiトビ) sitting on the field and a flock of Lapwings (Tageriタゲリ) flying over the edge of the patch in one frame.

The geese & lapwings flew because they saw a better option - a working tractor! 

more than 4 Grey herons (Aosagiアオサギ) were following the tractor - one was actually getting a ride on the tractor! and quite a few Lapwings were on the churned up fields. 

Happy evening snacking time!

 

Time for heading back home for us as well. Bye!

Imba-numa

great views of Lake Imbanuma

everybody's favourite, Kanta-kun (great white pelicanモモイロペリカン), not an ornament😁

The gentleman is a friend of Kanta-kun, feeding him from what he has caught in the lake.

Eastern Buzzard (Nosuriノスリ)

Falcated ducks (Yoshigamoヨシガモ)

female Daurian Redstart (Jobitakiジョウビタキ)
 

a pair of Little grebes (Kaitsuburiカイツブリ), they were calling each other many many times.

a sign of spring!

a pair of Moorhens (Banバン), another sign of spring💗

Great white egret (Daisagiダイサギ)

Eastern Marsh Harrier (Chuhiチュウヒ) skimming over the reedbeds

 It was just great to be there, seeing lots of birds within a few hours!

Water Rail

While we were watching waterfowl, a Water rail came out briefly through the reeds just under the bridge we were standing on. We waited for it to come back and it did!

very shy indeed!

 

 

 

 

 

It went back to the shelter very quickly. I like its tail sticking straight up!

It actually came out in the open rather more often than I expected it to do; possibly it felt safe when there were coots and moorhens foraging by the reeds? or it was desperate for food? And this wasn't the only one there, but one or two more were skulking in nearby reeds. wonderful!

Water rails seen in Japan used to be considered as a subspecies of the Water rail Rallus aquaticus,but now they are a species on its own, Rallus indicus, called the Eastern water rail or Brown-cheeked rail in English. Kuina クイナ is its Japanese name. 

(no sound)

Waterfowl

Lake Imbanuma is one of the great wildlife habitats in Chiba and around as it has two large lakes surrounded by reedbeds, paddy fields and some woodlands. It is not particularly protected (very few protected areas in Japan overall anyway) but still, it provides what wildlife needs. 

We went there on a bright, calm day and that's what we saw! 

ducks, ducks, and more ducks!! 

There were Pintails (Onagagamoオナガガモ), Mallards (Magamoマガモ), Spot-billed ducks (Karugamoカルガモ), Teals (Kogamoコガモ), Baikal teals (Tomoegamoトモエガモ), Falcated ducks (Yoshigamoヨシガモ), Smews (Mikoaisaミコアイサ) and

Great crested grebes (Kammuri-kaitsuburiカンムリカイツブリ), Little grebes (Kaitsuburiカイツブリ), Cormorants (Kawauカワウ), Coots (Oobanオオバン), Moorhens (Banバン), Great egrets (Daisagiダイサギ), Little egrets (Kosagiコサギ), Grey herons (Aosagiアオサギ) were seen among the ducks.

Occasionally, ducks were spooked by something and flew up, which was quite a spectacle.

Once a Peregrine falcon (Hayabusaハヤブサ) appeared from nowhere and turned the peaceful scene into chaos. That time luck was on the ducks' side though.

Movies from Imba-numa

 

Sakura & Imba-numa

The weather is getting nicer and nicer and I just couldn't resist going out birding.

By Sakura Castle Park, a couple of male Green Pheasants (Kijiキジ) looked tense, occasionally calling and flapping their wings very aggressively to weigh each other up. I didn't want to disturb their 'conflict' so just managed to take a picture of one of them. I don't know who won in the end!

Beautiful plumage!

There's a heronry every year near the National History Museum and I could hear the herons before seeing them.

 already some nests had chicks!

 Mainly Grey Herons (Aosagiアオサギ) but some Great Egrets (Daisagiダイサギ) too.

By the lake, a male Bull-headed Shrike (Mozuモズ) was calling very loudly.

Can you spot him?

He already had several fledglings in the bush near him and was busy feeding them.

There were quite a few shrikes in the vicinity, which was why the male was calling and patrolling his patch.

Another one calling...

The temperature went up and up and I cut my trip short in the end...
I'd never seen bull-headed shrike fledglings so it was a successful trip after all:)